This post is about the movie Chemical Hearts
"Have you ever had a girlfriend," she asked.
"No," he admitted, hesitantly. "Not really."
"Why not?"
"Uhh..."
"Have you ever had a boyfriend?"
"No," he chuckled uncomfortably.
"So what's the deal," she insisted with seeming earnestness.
"It's a lot easier for a girl to get a boyfriend than it is for a boy to get a girlfriend," declared his cousin confidently, emerging from the shadows of the cavernous room.
I did add that last sentence but the story-telling in the Chemical Hearts is just about that heavy handed.
The "he" referenced above is the movie's nominal protagonist, a geeky high school senior whose interests are gluing together broken vases and writing (just like the screenwriter!). He's white, but it's okay because his friends are a racially diverse group of LGTBQ high schoolers who also enjoy writing (just like the screenwriter!). Moreover, his parents are kind of dicks and he enjoys smoking marijuana. OMG so relatable!
The "she" in the opening dialog is a new student at the school. She's also white and enjoys writing (just like the screenwriter!) but she is different because she hobbles around on a crutch. She is the movie's true protagonist. The movie is really about her.
A reviewer on IMDB describes Chemical Hearts as a "decent film that spreads mental health awareness." That may sound harsh but is largely accurate. As if the frequent voiceovers aren't overbearing enough the boy's older sister - a nurse dealing with a painful breakup - goes off like a biochemistry teacher speaking to a Biology 103 class.
I'm not going to spoil the plot in case you want to watch the movie. You might enjoy it even though I found it underwhelming. In my opinion the movie doesn't have a single visually interesting scene. By comparison, Ten Things I hate About You, to take a random romcom, has at least two visually interesting scenes: Julia Stiles' drunken tabletop dance and the in-stadium song-and-dance number. Chemical Hearts has voiceovers and Google searches.